Rams 13-17 Seahawks, 14:17, third quarter

The Rams get the kickoff to land in the landing zone and then get into the end zone, so the Seahawks will start on the 20 rather than the 35. Walker picks up five. Then Darnold finds the game’s presumptive MVP, JSN, for his eighth catch and a first down.

The pass rush forces Stafford to scramble. He realizes the futility of the effort and slides, and the ball pops loose. Seattle scoops up the ball and races to paydirt, but the play is blown dead.

How much would that have hurt the Rams, to see Seattle tack on seven cheap points to take an 11-point lead and then receive the second-half kickoff?

Rams 13-17 Seahawks, 0:08, second quarter

The conventional play is to kneel and get into the end zone, but the Rams throw to Higbee for 12 yards and call timeout. Then Seattle calls timeout.

It’s unlikely that the Rams could run two plays in the remaining time, so Stafford would need the pass of his long, illustrious career to get anything here.

No heroics needed for Smith-Njigba that time. The Rams press Darnold, and the Seattle QB manages to launch the pass as he gets hit. It floats easily to a wide-open JSN.

Rams 13-10 Seahawks, 0:30, second quarter

How frustrating it must be for a coaching staff to call timeout, reset the offense, and then get a penalty for a false start. Seemed picayune to me.

JSN catches Darnold’s next pass, but he lands a few yards beyond the end zone.

But then …

Rams 13-10 Seahawks, 0:37, second quarter

Holani, who has struggled a bit filling in for Zach Charbonnet, catches a ball shy of the down marker but scoots past it with a couple of nifty moves. Seattle uses its second timeout – first and goal from the 9.

Rams 13-10 Seahawks, 0:44, second quarter

The defense has given the Seattle offense another shot. They start well, with Smith-Njigba snaring a pass in traffic for a first down. That’s 59 yards already for the outstanding receiver.

Darnold’s next pass is wildly inaccurate.

Oh, did we say 59 yards for JSN? Make it 101. He catches a deep ball from Darnold and hangs on despite being clobbered by Kam Curl as he lands. Seahawks use their first time out. This is already field goal range.

Rams 13-10 Seahawks, 0:56, second quarter

Shaheed signals for a fair catch on the Seattle 26, and the Seahawks will have a little less than a minute and three timeouts to tie or take the lead.

Rams 13-10 Seahawks, 1:04, second quarter

NOW we’ll play third down, and again, Emmanwori defends like Tim Howard in his prime. (Well, this is a Major League Soccer venue as well.)

Rams punt.

Rams 13-10 Seahawks, 1:09, second quarter

Maybe a surprisingly conservative call on first down, with Williams picking up five up the middle. Second down sees a terrific pass breakup by Emmanwori.

(Rant: There is no such thing as a pass defensed. It is a pass defended. Thank you for your attention to this matter.)

Rams call timeout on third down, but no one hears it in time to keep Stafford from scrambling to fling the ball away under pressure. The play will be called back.

Rams 13-10 Seahawks, 1:33, second quarter

The Rams blitz, and Darnold throws it behind a wide-open George Holani. That could hardly have gone worse for Seattle, which now has to hope its defense can keep the Rams from racing down the field again.

And the Rams will get 10 extra yards, thanks to a holding penalty on the punt. If ever there was a good penalty, this was it – the punt would easily have been blocked otherwise.

Seattle is just getting thrashed in every aspect of the game right now.

Rams 13-10 Seahawks, 1:49, second quarter

Can Seattle answer in the short time remaining before halftime? They’ll receive the kickoff in the second half, so a game-tying field goal would put them in decent shape.

But the Rams’ defense rises up on first down to hold Walker to two yards. Then Darnold can’t connect with former Ram Cooper Kupp.

The best defense in the NFL just let the Rams march 87 yards, ending with a lapse in coverage that left Kyren Williams wide open over the middle for a short pass. He could’ve walked in from there.

Rams 6-10 Seahawks, 2:00, second quarter

Corum gets a yard. Maybe four feet.

The Rams opt against snapping the ball before the two-minute warning. Time for more ads!

Rams 6-10 Seahawks, 2:41, second quarter

Kyren Williams punches through the line to pick up five when he only needed one. First down on the Seattle 11.

Stafford is running out of time to get the ball snapped on first down, and the Rams will use their first timeout.

Rams 6-10 Seahawks, 3:42, second quarter

This is the best defense in the NFL, and the Rams are slashing right through it like ceremonial scissors through a red ribbon.

Kylen Williams is held to two yards, and Nacua isn’t able to get to the down marker on a short pass. Third and short …

Rams 6-10 Seahawks, 5:25, second quarter

Corum finds no room on first down. He finds a ton of room on second down, starting up the middle and scampering to the left sideline to pick up 19 yards.

Rams 6-10 Seahawks, 5:55, second quarter

Oh my – Stafford just threaded the needle to Puka Nacua, who had four defenders converging on him. He secures the ball for a 21-yard gain. Seattle fans must be getting restless now.

Rams 6-10 Seahawks, 6:53, second quarter

Corum again for 5 yards. Stafford is still stuck on 3-for-8 passing for 70 yards.

But Stafford completes a short one to tight end Colby Parkinson, who lumbers for the last two yards for another first down.

Rams 6-10 Seahawks, 8:24, second quarter

Blake Corum opens with a solid 8-yard run with some linemen in front of him to plow a path. (The rest of the USA, under a layer of snow and sleet, would like to borrow some plows.)

Corum then picks up 3, which is enough to move the chains.

Rams 6-10 Seahawks, 9:18, second quarter

Huge punt by Michael Dickson, and Xavier Smith muffs the catch. He falls on it at the Rams 13.

I was unaware until now that Seattle coach Mike Macdonald started his coaching career at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens, Ga. I grew up a block away from their crosstown rivals, Clarke Central.

Most famous Cedar Shoals alum is probably Tituss Burgess of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt fame.

Rams 6-10 Seahawks, 9:56, second quarter

And the Seahawks lose more yardage, as Braden Fiske hauls down Darnold for an 8-yard loss. That brings up third-and-27.

Holani gets the call and picks up … three.

Is the momentum shifting?

Rams 6-10 Seahawks, 11:27, second quarter

The Rams clearly want no part of Shaheed on kickoff returns. Another touchback. Starting on the 35 is better than waving to someone as he races for a TD.

Darnold, though, immediately picks up 15 with a good throw to Smith-Njigba, who has 49 yards already.

But the shotgun snap on the next play eludes Darnold, and that’ll be a big loss.

Mevis hits from 50. That gets allcaps in my headline. The 27-yarder from Myers has some lowercase letters.

Rams 3-10 Seahawks, 14:54, second quarter

Williams gets nowhere on first down. Emmanwori times a pass breakup to perfection to keep the ball from Adams.

On third down, Stafford is in trouble and loses the ball. Replay shows he probably had his face mask grabbed.

Long field goal attempt …

Rams 3-10 Seahawks, 13:37, second quarter

QB comparison in the first quarter: Darnold 7/9 for 114 yards, Stafford 2/6 for 47.

Make that 3/7 for 70. A first-down rush for Nacua goes nowhere, but Stafford finds Adams running a slant for 23 big yards. Already on the Seattle 23.

Jordan Whittington returns the kick to the 35. Remember when teams usually started drives around the 20?

Kyren Williams gets four very difficult yards on first down. Clock runs … 15 … 12 …

Williams breaks free on the next play for 11 yards and gets close to midfield on the last play of the quarter.

Jason Myers isn’t going to miss from 27 yards without divine intervention. Seattle again leads by 7.

Rams 3-7 Seahawks, 0:58, first quarter

Not sure if Walker was Darnold’s first option there, but he’s open, and he picks up 10 more yards. Still a long way to go on third-and-goal from the 9, and Darnold’s pass to Barner is off target.

The Rams really needed that stop.

Rams 3-7 Seahawks, 1:58, first quarter

George Holani gets the handoff and loses 2 yards. Walker re-enters and picks up a couple, but a holding call negates the gain and pushes the Seahawks back to the 19.

Rams 3-7 Seahawks, 3:00, first quarter

Smith-Njigba picks up a few difficult yards after catching a short pass. Third-and-2.

Then Smith-Njigba dazzles, stretching out his right hand for a one-handed snag on the run. First and goal.

Rams 3-7 Seahawks, 5:27, first quarter

After a few good handoffs to Walker, why not throw him a screen pass? That’s 14 yards, and the Seahawks are suddenly on the Rams’ 23.

Finally, the Rams get a stop, bringing down Walker at the line of scrimmage.

Rams 3-7 Seahawks, 6:11, first quarter

Darnold rolls out and finds the big tight end AJ Barner for the first down.

Walker zips through a small hole at the line of picks up 8 quick yards.

Another handoff to Walker, who faces a Rams defender in the backfield but just shimmies past him on his way to a first down. What a start for the Seattle back.

Rams 3-7 Seahawks, 7:45, first quarter

The kickoff sails into the end zone, so Shaheed simply kneels with it to bring the ball out to the 35.

Walker finds 2 easy yards and 3 difficult yards. Second and five.

Harrison Mevis reminds us that NFL kickers are astoundingly accurate in non-whiteout conditions, drilling it through the uprights from 44 yards out.

Rams 0-7 Seahawks, 8:37, first quarter

Stafford immediately looks to Nacua again from the Seattle 26, but he overthrows the well-guarded receiver.

Davante Adams is looking for an interference or holding call as Stafford’s second-down pass sails well out of bounds. Uncatchable, to say the least.

Then it’s an awkward throw to Nacua that skips off the turf. Field goal time.

Rams 0-7 Seahawks, 8:37, first quarter

The Seahawks get a solid special-teams play to limit the kickoff return, and the two teams square off as if it ever makes sense for people clad in helmets and shoulder pads to fight. The officials sort it out, and the Rams try the run – Blake Corum for 3 yards.

And now Stafford goes deep to HIS star receiver, and Puka Nacua delivers! Good separation, and it’s a 44-yard completion.

Kenneth Walker III plows ahead for 3 yards. Then 4. On third and goal from the 2, Walker gets the call again and races to his right to the pylon. He wins the race, and the Seahawks have converted after their breakthrough plays.

Rams 0-0 Seahawks, 12:06, first quarter

Officially a gain of 51 yards on that play.

Darnold follows with a short pass to Smith-Njigba, and the Pro Bowl receiver gets another first down to set up first and goal.

Rams 0-0 Seahawks, 12:51, first quarter

Kenneth Walker III is stopped at the line of scrimmage but somehow remains upright and picks up five yards. Darnold drops back but rushes a poor pass. On third down, Darnold goes long to … Rashid Shaheed!! The electrifying receiver/returner has a couple of steps on the defender. The Rams are lucky the pass was slightly underthrown, so Shaheed had to slow down to catch it and couldn’t race in for the TD. But that’s a big gain already.

Rams 0-0 Seahawks, 13:33, first quarter

But Nacua can’t grab this one, a bullet thrown over his head. Rams will punt, and it’s a fair catch. Seattle will start on their own 19.

Rams 0-0 Seahawks, 13:47, first quarter

Kick return gets past the 30, Kyren Williams gets a few yards on first down, and Matthew Stafford finds all-world receiver Puka Nacua to bring up third-and-short.

The weather couldn’t be prettier. Warmer, sure. Prettier? No. Seattle is usually grayer than this.

Seahawks won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, which means the Rams will receive the kick.

Super Bowl LX? Wasn’t Super Bowl L just a few years ago?

Cute ad in which a young girl mimics figure skater Ilia Malinin. I’m duty-bound to inform you that I will indeed be in the commentary position for some Winter Olympics action in a couple of weeks, and that Malinin is from my town.

Conn O’Gorman writes:

Completely disagree that you can’t blame Stidham for that loss. The key play of the game was him dropping/fumbling the ball at the closing stages of the first half, resulting the Patriots only touchdown. The Patriots offence couldn’t move the ball outside one drive and only generated 3 points, if Stidham does the sensible thing there and throws out of bounds or takes the sack Denver would be booking their flights to Santa Clara right now.

You can criticise Payton’s decision to go for it on 4th down, but I think he had to go to the pass as the Patriots more than had the measure of the Broncos’ running game and at the end the Broncos didn’t have enough time left on the clock to keep running.

Appreciate the coverage.

That’s a fair point. That was the one time Stidham seemed completely out of his depth.

The Patriots did indeed bottle up the Broncos on the ground – which raises the question of “Why?” That’s keeping Denver from progressing farther. If they couldn’t run in these conditions against the Patriots, they weren’t going to do anything in the Super Bowl against Seattle.

Oh, right – we haven’t played this game yet. Add “or Los Angeles.”

Country singer has national anthem duties. Fighter planes shriek overhead. Should be time to kick off shortly.

The teams have taken the field. The PA announcer is loud. Maybe we’ll kick off shortly?

How they got here …

Los Angeles: A solid 12-5 record, losing only one game by more than three points (33-26 at Philadelphia in Week 3). A first-round playoff win in a shootout against Carolina, 34-31. Then last week’s wild game against Chicago in which the defense let up just long enough to allow Caleb Williams to complete a miraculous game-tying pass, only to tighten the screws and win in overtime.

Seattle: Opened with a 17-13 loss to San Francisco and lost a 38-35 decision to Tampa Bay in Week 5. That was their last home loss on the way to a 14-3 record, closing with a revenge win against the 49ers and opening the playoffs with a 41-6 demolition of the same team.

The Seahawks’ only other loss? Week 11 – at Los Angeles, 21-19. They won the return game in Week 16 in spectacular fashion, rallying from 16 points down in the fourth quarter and converting an all-or-nothing two-point conversion in overtime for the win.

So the Rams can take heart in knowing that they got the better of Seattle for 1 3/4 of their two games. But the Seahawks allowed the fewest points this season, and they’ve been ruthless at home.

(EDIT: I originally said “got the better of Los Angeles,” which would just mean they were better than the Chargers.)

Changing attention to this game – the sun is out in Seattle. The broadcasters are bundled up against the cold, but the conditions absolutely won’t affect the players here.

And the AFC game is basically over.

There will be a lot of pointed questions for the Broncos coaching staff after that one. With a backup QB and whiteout conditions, they insisted on throwing the ball instead of running it against a snowblind defense. And then they utterly failed to contain Drake Maye on the last meaningful play, letting him roam free to pick up a game-clinching first down.

You can’t pin that one on Jarrett Stidham. That is a series of coaching blunders beyond imagination.

Have the Broncos completely given up on the run?

To underscore the point – the Patriots just picked off a pass. Tony Romo blames backup QB Jarrett Stidham for a poor decision. I think the receiver never turned around to look for the ball.

Today’s inactive players are …

Seattle: QB Jalen Milroe (emergency third QB), TE Elijah Arroyo, FB Robbie Ouzts, LB Jared Ivey, G Christian Haynes, T Amari Kight, RB Velus Jones Jr.

Los Angeles: QB Stetson Bennett (emergency third QB), WR Tutu Atwell, CB Derion Kendrick, RB Jarquez Hunter, TE Nick Vannett, OL Beaux Limmer, DE Larrell Murchison.

The AFC championship is down to 3:07 remaining. Nothing resembling football has been played since the weather turned ugly partway through the third quarter.

First question: Weather

Whether you’re watching the AFC championship game live or following along with Graham Searles, you know the story of the second half is the weather. New England leads but is playing the fourth quarter staring into white sheets of wind-driven frozen precipitation.

Much of the country is dealing with similar conditions. If it’s snowing, you’re lucky. It could be sleet or freezing rain.

So how are things in Seattle, where the Seahawks will host the Rams with a spot in the Super Bowl on the line?

Wind … maybe 2 mph. Cloudy skies but scant chance of precipitation. Temperatures slightly north of freezing.

In other words – not a factor. Seattle fans won’t be silenced by a slight chill.

Send an email my way if you have a few thoughts. Routine win for the dominant Seahawks? Or do the Rams have a surprise in store?

Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s Graham Searles’ preview of today’s game:

Los Angeles Rams v Seattle Seahawks (Sunday 6.30pm ET/11.30pm GMT)

What Los Angeles need to do to win: Running back Kyren Williams can unlock Seattle’s disciplined, fast and destructive defense, which is led by linebacker Ernest Jones. To help beat a team that will dare Matthew Stafford to throw by showing light boxes, Williams has to shine. Fortunately for the Rams he is one of the most patient rushers in the NFL, always waiting for gaps to develop before punching through. The Rams’ elite pass protection also gives Sean McVay the flexibility to keep Stafford safe in the pocket against a menacing Seattle front. If Williams can keep moving the chains and force the Seahawks to bring an extra safety into the box, deep shots to Puka Nacua and Davante Adams should open up. The Rams will then find the rhythm needed to overcome Seattle’s mean machine.

What Seattle need to do to win: The Seahawks have lost a key piece of their offensive gameplan. Zach Charbonnet’s torn ACL means Seattle’s run game will go through Kenneth Walker III, a change that risks slowing down the offense’s efficiency. The Seahawks need to scheme up the passing game to make up for the shortfall, rather than throw in a rusty Cam Akers. Akers, recently on the practice squad, may keep Walker’s legs fresh but he isn’t likely to do any damage to the Rams. A more potent threaten is Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Rashid Shaheed receiving quick, high percentage throws and speeding away with yards after the catch.

Key player for the Rams: Kevin Dotson, right guard. The offensive lineman has been stewing for weeks, after Seattle’s Derick Hall stepped on Dotson when he was down injured in LA’s epic defeat at Lumen Field in week 16. “I’m not going to hold nothing against him until I can see him and get my get-back. Not gonna step on nobody, I’ll get it between the whistles,” Dotson said before facing Chicago last week. Bold to call your shot a game early but the brilliant run blocker has earned his chance to dominate the enemy.

Key player for the Seahawks: Sam Darnold, quarterback. “We want him to be decisive and rip it,” said Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald last month on what he expects from the best version of Darnold we have seen yet. When he is protected and letting it fly, few are better in the NFL and, thanks to a palate-cleansing first playoff win last week, Darnold could find his flow state quickly. The Seahawks may need him to: they have a hamstrung running game, and this one could quickly turn into a shootout.

Prediction: Seahawks over Rams. Whoever has the ball last wins this one, but it is Macdonald’s team who have been more consistent. Stafford’s struggle to complete passes in Chicago last week was noteworthy; he is facing a tougher defense in just as hostile environs on Sunday. A raucous home crowd will boost Seattle to the Super Bowl.